OTTAWA – Sunday night is going to go one of two ways for the Calgary Stampeders.

Depending on how it plays out, CFL fans are going to say one of two things about the organization.

Do what’s expected and win the Grey Cup, and the Stampeders will solidify their spot as the dominant CFL team of the last 10 years.

Lose to the Toronto Argonauts, though, and the claws will come out. The haters will be fed more ammunition and – fairly or unfairly – it will become ever-harder to shed the ‘choker’ label that’s haunted the Stampeders for years.

One way or another, Sunday’s game will establish a narrative about these Stampeders that is sure to stick.

Head coach Dave Dickenson seems to understand that, although he took the time after Saturday’s walkthrough at TD Place to make a case for another way of looking at the organization that employs him.

“One of the things you can say is the Calgary Stampeders as an organization haven’t won as many championships as other people think (they should have),” Dickenson said. “But one thing I’m most proud of is we get to the party, we do.

“We get here year-in, year-out into the party more than anybody else and give ourselves a chance to win a ring. Yeah, I’d like to finish it tomorrow and get that championship, but I’m really proud that the guys put the work and effort in, year-in and year-out.”

On paper, there’s no question the Stampeders should be the favourites heading into the Grey Cup.

They boast the best defence in the league, the most dynamic special teams unit and an experienced offence that has come up big in the season’s most crucial moments.

Since the start of the year, they’ve lost only one meaningful game. Yes, they finished off the regular season with three straight losses, but those came after the Stamps had already clinched first-place in the West Division.

By any reasonable metric, the Stampeders should win. The only explanation for picking the Argos comes down to having a ‘gut feeling’ about the Torontonians.

Well, there’s also the fact that the Stamps were in an almost identical position last year and fell short against the Ottawa RedBlacks.

It’s a new year with (some) new players, but the lost in the 2016 Grey Cup is like a spectre looming over everything the Stamps have done this year.

All week, the media has bombarded Bo Levi Mitchell and his teammates with questions about last year.

What lessons did they learn? How are they preparing differently? Is the loss affecting the team’s collective psyche in any way?

The Stamps have patiently answered the questions over and over again.

“I’ve kind of treated this year as its own,” Mitchell said. “Last year was a missed opportunity and something we’ll always want back, but we’re focused now. From Day 1, (Dickenson) in training camp said ‘Use last year as motivation to get ready for this season, but now this is this season.’

“It’s a new team, a new lockerroom, plenty of new guys in the team. It’s motivation just to do the right thing during the week.”

If the questions got tedious this week, they’ll only get worse if the Stamps lose Sunday.

They’re not playing the Grey Cup to shut anyone up, of course, they’re playing to win rings, but the stakes are pretty clear: Lose Sunday, and the world outside Calgary will think of this era of the Stampeders as being defined by their inability to climb all the way to the top of the mountain.

Win, and they’ll have brought home three Grey Cups of the last 10. Maybe they left a few on the table, but that’s still a pretty nice haul.